the scientific classification of the animal kingdom. The first class in this division is that of Polypi, under which several families are ranked. One of them is the Corticide, or bark-covered corals, which includes the genera, Corallium, Isis, and Gorgonia (Plate XXXVII., figs. 6, 9). Several other well-known forms are ranked under this class, as Meandrina, fig. 1; Tubipora, figs. 2, 3, 4; Astræa, fig. 5; Caryophylla, fig. 7; Oculina, fig. 8. All these would be within reach. of Syria, either from the Great Sea, or through Arabia, from the Indian ocean. But the red coral (Isis nobilis) was the species most highly prized. It is found in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and in different parts of the south coasts of Asia. The labours of the so called coralworms in rearing pile on pile of calcareous matter until it rises above the surface of the water, and in time forms great islands, have ever attracted to them the interest of the naturalist, and the glowing admiration of the poet : The contributions from the land of Israel proper to the merchandise of Tyre are named in ver. 17-"Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy markets wheat of Minnith and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. The site of Minnith has not been identified. We learn from Judges xi. 33, that it belonged to the Ammonites. The soil in the neighbourhood of Minnith must have been peculiarly favourable for the cultivation of wheat. Hence the Hebrews, when they took final possession of Ammon, carried their wheat to the market of Tyre. One of the outstanding features of Palestine was its peculiar suitableness for the cultivation of wheat. See under Deut. viii. 8. Early mention is made of different varieties of this most highly esteemed cereal. Thus we have "wheat," Judges vi. 11, "finest of the wheat," Ps. cxlvii. 14, 'principal wheat," Isa. xxviii. 25, and here "wheat of Minnith." See under Ps. lxxxi. 16. "Pannag" is named only in this passage. The uncertainty of its derivation, taken in connection with its being mentioned only once, has led to much profitless speculation as to the object indicated by it. Some have believed that Pannag, like Minnith, is the name of a place. The translation required to sustain this would be "wheat of Minnith and of Pannag," but the original will not bear this. Others have asserted that both words, rendered as proper names in our version, should not have been so. The true rendering they assert is "olive and fig." To support this, they allege a corruption of the text in regard to both words, in a way which would land us in complete uncertainty as to a hundred other words of whose meaning there can be no doubt. In the Septuagint, Pannag is translated cassia; in the Syriac version, millet; in the Targum, sweet-pastry. This last has led some to render the word by sweet-cake, defined to have been made up of figs, raisins, &c. Luther believed that balsam was referred to under this name. Hiller in his "Sacred Botany" has suggested a preparation from one of the ivy family (Araliaceae), the Panax (P. quinquefolium), from which |